For French companies operating in Poland, whether they have been here for only a few years or longer, 2007 was definitely a good year due to the country’s dynamic economic growth. Nevertheless, I think it has not been sufficiently stressed that the year was also difficult because of the shortage of employees and management personnel. French firms belonging to the Chamber have been affected by skill shortages and shortages in technical education in Poland, and they try to overcome this problem by organising many vocational courses. The activity of our Chamber has concentrated on human resources, e.g. through organising French career days, which will take place for the second time in spring 2008. We obviously do not want to block the mobility of labour force on the European market as the idea and the principle of the united Europe is the free flow of people and capital. French companies want to prove that well-educated, talented people who know languages will stay in Poland if only they are offered interesting proposals.
The second barrier to which we want to draw public attention is the lack of an idea to solve the problem. We have often had an impression that many steps are taken spontaneously, on impulse, but no one really knows what they are directed at. It is not a favourable situation when – on the one hand – there are aspirations to introduce a lot of economic freedom, and on the other hand – this freedom is being blocked; when there seems to be a declaration of the social state but in fact this social dimension is not clearly defined. I must admit this is burdensome in everyday practice, especially when there are no clear systemic tools.
The third barrier, very important especially in the context of the Euro 2012 championship, is the public-private partnership. It is one of the subjects in which French firms could share their experience, mainly about infrastructure building. Public-private partnership allows for increasing the funding potential and for better using new technological solutions, which in effect improves the allocation of the EU funds. This is a good method for increasing capital and more rapid development. I would like to say that large companies operating on the Polish market, such as Bouygues and Veolia, have much experience in executing and managing projects based on public-private partnership in many countries.
I think that in the context of Poland’s preparations for the Euro 2012 championship it is worth mentioning a certain paradox. Among the ten largest companies in the world there are three French firms: Vinci Group, Eiffage Group, and Bouygues. Even though they are operating on the Polish market, their presence here is being used to a lesser extent than it could be, regarding their size, potential and technological knowledge. Maybe during the execution of the projects connected with the Euro 2012 and the expansion and modernisation of the Polish infrastructure their potential will be eventually noticed and used properly.
We took part in social consultancy held by the Construction Ministry and we tried to show that the rules of the French real estate and property developing services market are more strict than those on the Polish market, and guarantee more security to buyers. The fact is, the building speed in Poland does not meet the current needs. The storage of apartments and some speculative actions have recently caused a very dynamic growth of prices on the real estate market, which was followed by an increased caution of French investors in this sector.
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